


Explosion

by HotGoatCheese



Series: Whumptober 2019 [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Beast Island (She-Ra), Fire, Gen, Major Character Injury, Season 3 finale spoilers, Survival, season 4 speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 11:21:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20873357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotGoatCheese/pseuds/HotGoatCheese
Summary: After sixty-eight point two hours alone in this nightmarish environment, Entrapta was ready to celebrate the small victories. Most recently, that the berries that grew in thick just a little ways down the hill from her tunnel were in fact, not poisonous. She'd tested that a lot more safely than she had the water. Though the water was a vital component.She'd left the little fire going on her improvised workbench. Under the little plate she'd hammered out of some soft rock she'd found near the top of the hill with one of the much harder rocks that she'd found at the bottom.  More physical work than she was use to, but ultimately worthwhile. Especially now that she could sit down to a feast of tested-safe berries.





	Explosion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tulip_the_Literate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tulip_the_Literate/gifts).

> I don't know anything about the place Catra sentenced Entrapta to, so I made it up! I also know very little about science, so I made that up too! I also played fast and loose with science specialties, I know that as a roboticist, expecting this level of MacGyuvered Chemistry from Entrapta is a bit unrealistic and I've straight up Professor from Gilligan's Island-ed her a bit. 
> 
> I am sorry about all of that. 
> 
> I am not sorry about anything else.

It wasn't that Beast Island wasn't exactly as awful as everyone had always made it sound. It was just that Entrapta thought she was doing pretty good for herself. She'd survived thirty-eight point six seven hours here, thirty-seven point nine two of them completely alone. 

You were still alone when something was chasing you, right?

Finding the tunnel halfway up a steep hill that had a sheer drop down into a dark cave with a source of water that was clean enough for consumption. Entrapta would rather not dwell on how she'd tested that question, had been a stroke of nearly unprecedented luck. Finding sufficient foliage to camouflage it had been the most exciting thing to happen to her since...

Maybe it was best not to think of better times. 

After sixty-eight point two hours alone in this nightmarish environment, Entrapta was ready to celebrate the small victories. Most recently, that the berries that grew in thick just a little ways down the hill from her tunnel were in fact, not poisonous. She'd tested that a lot more safely than she had the water. Though the water was a vital component. 

She'd left the little fire going on her improvised workbench. Under the little plate she'd hammered out of some soft rock she'd found near the top of the hill with one of the much harder rocks that she'd found at the bottom. More physical work than she was use to, but ultimately worthwhile. Especially now that she could sit down to a feast of tested-safe berries. 

She noticed the cracks in the soft rock plate. The slow color change, and even subconsciously recognized the chemical reaction that was hardening the stone. She really should have done something. Especially when she saw the soft silver light begin to shine through those cracks. So maybe it was her fault that it exploded. 

The rock plate shattered into a thousand shards of shrapnel that fired full circle at the height of the plate around the small cave. Entrapta knew she was lucky the force of the explosion struck her first, even though as she was knocked hard to the side she still cried "My berries!" as if them scattering into the dirt by the same force was worse than the bullet-like shards that were coming for her. 

Entrapta caught herself on her hair but instead of staying upright she simply twisted on the way down. Flat on her belly, arms over her face to protect it from the cave floor that was coming up at her with the force of a fist. The landing hurt, and hadn't happened fast enough. A shard of rock tore through her shirt and grazed her shoulder blade. 

"No..." she breathed after a beat in the dust, pushing the word past a sob that tried to rise in her throat. She didn't have to look at her work bench to know what had become of it, but she did anyway. 

"No, No nono NO!" her voice rose from whine to shout as she lifted her upper body and twisted at the waist to look behind her. The little fire had flared as the oxygen it ate reacted with the chemicals in the stone. The entire wooden bench was alight and smoke was beginning to fill the room. 

She could stay low. Wait it out. If she kept her breathing shallow she wouldn't run out of air before the smoke cleared. Except that the smoke would clear right up through her tunnel like a chimney, and smoking shrubbery with no sign of a fire underneath was sure to draw attention. 

You don't want to draw attention on Beast Island. 

Favoring the side with the wound, however minor it was, Entrapta mostly used her hair to crawl back up through the nearly vertical tunnel and out from under the bush. Then she got to her feet and ran. Downhill, as she had neither the energy nor the breath to run uphill. She tried to go at a diagonal though, so it'd be less obvious to any observers that she was running from the smoke. 

She couldn't afford to look that weak. 

Less then seventy hours. It wasn't that much progress, really. Now that she had the experience she could make it up again in half the time. 

...just as long as her luck held out. 

One small explosion wasn't the end of the streak of luck that was keeping her alive, was it? 

Not even three days in, and the process of survival had to begin all over again. 


End file.
